Hunger Free Oklahoma

Please welcome Chris Benard, CEO from Hunger Free Oklahoma! 

Hunger Free Oklahoma is a statewide nonprofit established to leverage the power of collaboration to solve hunger in Oklahoma by improving systems, policies, and practices, facilitating public/private partnerships, and providing backbone support to existing organizations addressing hunger.   

Hunger Free Oklahoma’s primary focus is to collaboratively work with community-based organizations, government agencies, and other stakeholders who directly serve individuals. We provide support through technical assistance, convening, research, and policy guidance to nonprofit, government, and other stakeholders statewide.  

Bios on each speaker:

Chris Bernard

Chris, a proud native of Oklahoma, became part of Hunger Free Oklahoma in December of 2017. With a robust background in policy, advocacy, legislative strategy, and program implementation, Chris brings invaluable expertise to the organization. Chris’s track record includes building scalable solutions to complex societal problems including the areas of public safety, public health, and food insecurity in Oklahoma. “Scale it or fail it” is Chris’ mantra. This has resulted in the expansion of the Double Up Oklahoma (DUO) program, for example, a statewide nutrition incentive program that encourages fruit and vegetable purchases among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, the creation of a statewide SNAP Outreach plan in Oklahoma and multiple large scale emergency response efforts.

In 2023, Chris was honored with the Rodney Bivens Innovation Award by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to the field. Additionally, he was named among The Journal Record’s Most Admired CEOs in 2023 and the Most Admired Nonprofit CEO in 2021. Chris was a member of Leadership Oklahoma Class 35 and is a Lifetime member of the organization.

Chris earned his BA from the University of Texas at Austin and furthered his education by obtaining a JD from Northwestern University School of Law.